Editor's Note: December 2019

‘Tis the season to say ‘tis the season at the start of every news story, greeting card and podcast. Cliché much?

We know, we know, we’re kidding, but you can’t blame anyone for being giddy this season, especially if they have a roof over their heads and a family to share with. We feel so blessed to be able to have some time off work and school to be with the ones we love, even if sometimes preparing for the holidays is harder than our jobs.

It also gives us pause to remember how lucky we are while others are so much less fortunate. That’s one of the big themes in this month’s issue, which salutes Jacob’s Heart an organization that supports Santa Cruz families whose children are suffering. They have done so much for the community as you can read in Kevin Painchaud’s story.

We also suggest checking out Santa Cruz Gives, an annual holiday fundraising campaign for 38 local nonprofits. More than 20 of the organizations are supporting local youth. You might want to give your kids an amount to donate or review the projects with them and learn what’s needed by others. SantaCruzGives.org

This issue, which has our health and fitness guide to get an early jump on your New Year’s resolutions (or to suggest gifting classes and memberships), has gift ideas for pets, career-seeking kids, environmentalists and thrill ride lovers. We guarantee you won’t find that combination anywhere else!

You may even want to give a faerie for the holiday and you can learn how to do that in Natalya Dreszer’s story inside.

We love the idea of giving classes and time for the holidays, rather than stuff that ends up in a landfill something you will see in many stories inside. But we love toys that are educational as well.

We love going downtown during the holidays and two of our favorites are the model trains at the Museum of Art & History and the weekend productions of “Nightmare Before Christmas” at Kianti’s. They make a perfect family date night. So does hitting Holiday Ice at the Boardwalk and strolling the Capitola Mall, which for this ‘tis the season, harkens back to its pre-Amazon glory.

We want to thank all of you readers for sharing 2019 with us and we wish you all a blessed and peaceful 2020. Thanks for reading and thanks for growing up in Santa Cruz with us!

Brad Kava
Jennifer Ford
Steve Dinnen